Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano went out of her way yesterday to stress that the TSA pat-downs are "same-gender" -- mostly to reassure women that men will not be groping them at airports in the name of safety.

"But what about homosexual TSA agents?" AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera responded. "Isn't it just as inappropriate for a 'gay' male TSA agent to pat down male travelers as it is for a normal, heterosexual male TSA agent to pat down female travelers?

"The reality is, most traveling men would not want Barney Frank to pat them down at the airport security checkpoint," LaBarbera said. "Neither would it be fair to assign Ellen DeGeneres to pat down female travelers. (In the same vein, the Army should no more force normal male soldiers to shower and bunk with homosexual male soldiers than it would force females soldiers to bunk and shower with their male counterparts.)"

The TSA, as a federal agency, is barred from discriminating on the basis of "sexual orientation," thanks to a pro-homosexual Executive Order signed by President Clinton in 1998.

Said LaBarbera: "Obviously Napolitano wants to assure the public that sexual tension will be taken out of the equation. Hence, we must take seriously the self-identified desires of homosexuals. 'Gay' men define themselves as being sexually attracted to other men. Lesbians are sexually attracted to women. And bisexuals are attracted to both." Some observations:

Perhaps some common-sense, healthy "discrimination" is in order: the TSA should put conditions on employment for self-acknowledged homosexuals -- that they not be assigned to pat down travelers so as to avoid being put in sexually compromising situations;

It would not be workable to assign, say, gay male TSA agents to pat down female travelers -- as the latter -- thinking the agents to be normal men -- would protest that they are being patted down by males. Chaos would ensue;

Does the TSA know which of its employees are homosexual, anyway, and how? If not, is it fair to travelers who may end up getting "groped" by homosexual TSA agents who are secretly getting turned on through the process?

Could the TSA be subjected to a sexual harassment lawsuit if the agent who engages in an overly aggressive "same-gender pat-down" -- and gets sued -- turns out to be homosexual?

LaBarbera said that even if it could be assumed that most TSA agents -- regardless of their sexual proclivities -- would act professionally, that is not the issue. Male TSA agents -- no matter how "professional" their conduct -- cannot frisk female travelers.

"To allow homosexual agents to conduct same-gender pat-downs is tantamount to a new form of discrimination that must be recognized and prevented," he said.